Employer Responsibilities After a Workplace Injury: What the Law Requires
When an employee is injured on the job, employers in Ontario have specific legal obligations they must follow. These obligations protect employees by ensuring they can recover from their injury without losing their job because of it.
In this article, we’ll summarize an employer’s basic responsibilities after a workplace accident, and how to help the employee rejoin the workforce post-injury.
*The content of this article pertains to Ontario businesses. If you’re employing outside of Ontario, different rules may apply. Please refer to official sources on this topic.
Reporting Requirements for a Workplace Injury
Employers in Ontario must report a workplace injury to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) if they are aware that the worker:
- requires medical treatment, and/or
- is unable to perform their regular job,
- earns less than their usual pay for regular duties (for example, if they can only work reduced hours),
- needs modified work at a lower rate of pay, or
- requires modified work at their regular pay for more than seven consecutive calendar days after the incident.
If any of the above is true and you fail to report, you’ll be subject to penalties and fines for non-compliance.
Return to Work Responsibilities after a Workplace Injury
Employers have a duty to support employees in returning to work once they are medically cleared. This usually involves accommodations and modified work duties/hours if applicable.
The employee may not be able to return to their original duties, either because of long-term complications from the injury, or because their original job is no longer available.
Even if the original job is no longer an option, the employer is still required to find them another suitable position within the organization. We’ve seen many cases where employers transitioned former trade workers into an administrative role because of an injury.
Please note that there are guidelines for what roles you can transition an employee to post-injury. For example, the new position cannot offer a significantly lower salary than what the employee earned in their previous role.
Other Options if the Employee Can’t Stay in the Same Organization
In some cases, finding a new role within the same organization is not possible. Some workplaces necessitate physical activity, making it impossible to transition an employee who was permanently injured on the job.
In fact, a similar thing happened to our client. He started off as an electrician, but needed to find a new job in a different industry after being injured.
Learn more about his career transition story here!
If staying in the same organization isn’t possible, what can the employer do to stay compliant?
An alternative option if the employee can’t return to the same organization is to offboard the employee with career support services. The employer can sponsor an outside organization, such as Pathways, to work with the employee to find a job outside of the organization/industry that’s suitable.
Career Transition Offboarding Support with Pathways
Our team specializes in career transition and offboarding programs, helping employees explore new career paths, develop transferable skills, and prepare for opportunities outside of their former role.
- If possible, we can help the employee transition into a new department in the same organization with our handpicked reskilling programs.
- Otherwise, we will help them find a new industry and career path that suits their passions, skills, and physical capabilities.
Want to understand how our career support services work? Book a meeting to learn more!
